An Unconventional Start
by bookworm2dance
Summary: Ten years after Aliyah Ziva is back, but she is not alone. Will she beable to resettle in DC with the man she loves? Jenny is still alive! My first fic! R R!
1. Chapter 1

_Wow, my first fic! R+R, but be nice!_

_Jenny is alive!_

_Anything written in Italics is being said in Hebrew_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except Talia, Abigail and Pippy. I am not making any profit from this story._

Chapter 1

The woman sat on the plane deep in thought, with butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She glanced around her anxiously, as though waiting for someone to pounce. Beside her, the two eight year old girls wriggled excitedly in their seats, chattering at top speed. Their mother watched them, delighted that they were free to leave the apartment. The apartment that they had not left in their entire lives.

Abby Sciuto went to up to the counter and ordered a coffee. On her way out the door she noticed two adorable identical twins sitting at a table by the window. They had lightly tanned skin, long, thick, black plaits and both wore jeans and t-shirts. They said something in what Abby recognised as Hebrew, but it was the woman's reply that made her stop dead in her tracks

"Girls you are in America now. You must remember to try and speak in English".

Abby knew that voice. It was a voice she never thought she would hear again.

"Ziva?" she asked incredulously.

The woman turned around slowly. "Shalom Abby"

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD" Abby yelled, launching herself at Ziva and crushing her into a massive bear hug. "I thought you were dead! What happened to you?"

"I went on my mission to Somalia. I was captured and tortured. Then they found out I was pregnant. They stopped beating me until I had the girls. We were made to live in a cramped apartment where I was their slave, and had to do whatever they wanted. I was given regular beatings to make me do what they wanted, but the only thing that kept me there was my children. I knew that if I left, they would kill them. So I stayed."

"_Ima, who is that?" _ asked one of the girls.

"Girls, this is an old friend of mine. Her name is Abby. Abby these are my two daughters, Talia Jennifer David and Abigail Caitlin David" she said smiling.

"Wow, you named your daughter after Me, Kate and Jenny. But, who is Talia?"

"My little sister. We called her Tali. She was killed by a Hamas suicide bombing on a bus when she was just sixteen. I was almost eighteen and we were very close. After our mother died I became her substitute mother. She was on her way to the library to study."

"I'm sorry Ziva"

"It is fine; it was a long time ago"

"So, how did you escape? How long have you been here? Where are you guys staying?"

"Umm... I spiked their dinner with vodka, Arrived about three hours ago and I am going to find a motel"

"You can't stay in a cheap, grotty motel. You are coming home with me."

"Abby, I don't want to imp..."

"Don't be silly. You're family. Besides Me, Timmy and Pippy won't mind...". Abby stopped realising that once again that she had said too much.

"You and McGee?" asked Ziva incredulously. Abby proudly held out her right hand, displaying a white gold engagement ring with a deep red ruby set in the middle and a simple white gold wedding band inlaid with diamonds.

"We got married about two years after you left"

"And who is Pippy?"

Abby, looking radiant replied "its short for Pipsqueak". Her hand subconsciously went to her stomach.

"You're pregnant!"

"Ten weeks"

"Congratulations"

"Thanks, now I have important stuff to do so let's go." She grabbed Ziva by the hand and forced her upright.

"_Girls, we are going to go and stay with Abby for a while. Get your bags because we're going now"_

"_OK Ima" _they replied in unison.

"English!"

"They are so sweet" squealed Abby.

The group walked out to Abby's hearse, and drove to her apartment.

"I should warn you. The team are all at my apartment. Ducky, Jenny, Gibbs and Tony."

"What about my replacement?"

"Gibbs refused to hire anyone else"

"It has been almost ten years"

"He still wouldn't do it"

The car stopped and, and, holding Talia and Abigail by the hands, Ziva followed Abby up the stairs to her apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

_Anything written in Italics is being said in Hebrew_

_Jenny is still alive!_

_Also, to avoid any confusion, Ziva's daughter will always be referred to as Abigail and Abby will stay Abby or Abs._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except Talia, Abigail and Pippy. I am not making any profit from this story._

Chapter 2

Abby slid her key into the apartment door, but before she could unlock it McGee pulled it open, his eyes clearly conveying how worried he had been. He pulled Abby into a tight embrace.

"I was so worried. You've been gone for hours. What were you doing?"

"Tim" she said stepping back. It took a moment for it to register in his head who the woman standing beside her was, though in reality, Ziva hadn't changed a bit. Her hair was still the same glossy black, even though it was longer than ever before. Her eyes were still a warm chocolate brown and her skin lightly tanned. The only real difference was a few extra wrinkles, and the two little girls tightly clutching her hands.

"Ziva?"

"Shalom McGee"

"Let's go inside" interjected Abby before either of them could say any more.

Ziva picked up the small rucksack that contained the few meagre possessions she had grabbed on her way out of the apartment. Walking through the front door into the living room, she could see that the apartment was almost exactly the same as the last time she had been there, with the exception of a few McGee-ish touches. The walls were exposed brickwork, but with a cream painted feature wall. The sofas were cream leather and there was a desk with a typewriter under one of the windows. Also, many photographs of the team and Pippys ultrasound adorned the walls. She could hear the voices of her team, who were obviously in the kitchen, talking about how excited they were about Pippy coming along.

Taking a deep breath, Ziva pushed open the door and steeped into the small kitchen. The first person to notice her was Tony. On spotting her, his bottle of beer slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor, though luckily not breaking.

"DiNozzo" began Gibbs, turning round to yell at him. He caught sight of Ziva.

"Am I seeing things" asked Tony, "because I didn't think I'd had that much to drink".

"I can see her as well Tony" said Jenny

Then, as if it had only just dawned on them, they all ran towards her to hug her. Ziva just smiled and opened her arms to the warm embraces f her friends that she had not felt for almost ten years.

"It is good to be home" she said softly. _"Girls, this is my old boss Jethro Gibbs, his boss and my friend Jenny Sheppard, and my good friends Timothy McGee and Dr Mallard, but you can call him _Ducky _and this is my old partner Tony_". The girls just nodded shyly, hiding behind Ziva. Then, speaking to the team she said "These are my daughters, Talia Jennifer and Abigail Caitlin Davis. They are almost nine years old."

"What are you doing here? We thought you were dead!"

"Before she answers that" said Abby, "Why don't we all go into the living-room where it's more comfortable". "Also, does anyone want a sandwich? I'm having one." A general consensus of yeses came from the group as they filed from the living room.

A few minutes later Abby joined them with a large plate of sandwiches for the adults, gingerbread men and juice for the girls and a round of funny smelling sandwiches for her. She settled herself onto the sofa beside McGee.

"Abby, what on earth is in those things?" he asked wrinkling his nose.

"Tuna, jam, banana and honey"

"Gross"

"Don't insult me Timmy! Just remember that I am a hormonal, pregnant woman with cravings who can kill you without leaving any forensic evidence!"

McGee visibly gulped, but before he could think of anything to say in reply Jenny asked Ziva to tell them what had happened to her.

While Ziva spoke there was not a sound to be heard, except for the faint chattering of Talia and Abigail in Hebrew.

When she finished her story she noticed that her daughters had become suspiciously quiet. Remembering what had happened last time she looked around frantically before noticing them curled up on a beanbag together, sucking their thumbs.

"Girl's" she called softly.

They both got up and came over to her. Abigail climbed onto her knee and Talia settled herself beside her.

Ziva bent down and rummaged through her bag and pulled out to rag dolls, which she had clearly made herself. They had a curly mop of hair which was tamed into plaits and one wore a checked blue dress while the other wore a checked lilac dress.

"Meira" cried Talia, grabbing the one in blue.

"Raya" cried Abigail, grabbing the one in lilac.

"_We thought the bad men had got our dolls Ima"_ said Talia.

"_Do you think that I would let those men get your dolls?"_

Both girls looked at her sheepishly. Ziva turned to look at Ducky.

"Ducky, both me and the girls have been getting regular beatings, but the last one was the worst. Would you mind looking at some of our cuts and bruises?"

"Of course not my dear, but do you want me to wait until tomorrow, as it appears young Talia and Abigail are quite worn out?"

Ziva looked down at her daughters, noticing that they were both sound asleep.

"Abby, where are we staying?"

Abby stood up, "Come on". She picked up Talia , while Ziva kept hold of Abigail and showed them to a pretty bedroom. She put Talia on the bed and went over to the sofa, which she promptly pulled out to become a sofa bed. She disappeared for a moment, but returned with sheets, pillows and two large, colourful and very cosy looking blankets.

Ziva had no pyjamas for the girls so she just took off their shoes and jackets and settled them in beside each other with their dolls. After kissing them goodnight, she and Abby tiptoed out of the room and closed the room.

When she returned to the living room, she turned to Ducky and asked him to treat her now, as she was worried they could get infected.

"Certainly Ziva, I'll just go and get my medical bag from the car."

The pair went out into the kitchen, where Ducky made Ziva straddle one of the chairs, so that he could start off with the wounds on her back as per her request. Ziva unclipped her bra and unbuttoned her blouse so Ducky could see what he was doing.

"Oh Ziva", he breathed after looking one look at the torn skin...

_What happened last time? What happened to Ziva? Keep reading to find out. Also go to my profile page and answer my poll about where Ziva, Talia and Abigail are going to stay. Don't forget to review!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Anything written in Italics is being said in Hebrew_

_Jenny is still alive!_

_Sorry it took so long!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except Talia, Abigail and Pippy. I am not making any profit from this story._

Ducky began to remove the layers of makeshift bandages that someone had put on her back. He could tell it hadn't been her as she would not have been able to reach, or, if she could have, it would be done much neater.

"Ziva, who put these bandages on?"

"Talia. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up. They knocked me unconscious and dumped me in our room and that is when the girls did their best to patch me up. Again. It was then that I knew we had to leave. They have been getting more and more violent recently."

_Flashback_

_Ziva stood in the tiny, cramped room. Her hands and feet were tied to a chair while the men interrogated her. She refused to answer their questions, even though by now she knew what would happen. A series of punches followed every unanswered question. As the interrogation the men got more and more angry. They stopped using their hands and started using a birch cane. One of them broke a beer bottle against her back. Then she lost consciousness._

After removing the clumsily placed layers of grubby bandages Ducky could see what remained of her flesh. What he could see was red and purple. There was clearly a large amount of glass still embedded in her skin and the flesh was torn and in parts, almost non-existent.

"I really think you should go to a hospital for this"

"I am fine"

"I can treat this, but it will be very painful and I cannot give you painkillers"

"Just do it. I do not want to leave Talia and Abigail here alone."

Ducky sighed and got to work. He started off by pulling the glass out of her back. Ziva's knuckles were almost white she was gripping the chair so hard and her breathing was hard and shallow.

"Would you like me to ask Tony to come in and distract you?"

"Not Tony. I do not want him to see me like this. If Abby will come will you ask her?"

"Certainly my dear". He got up and disappeared momentarily. When he returned he was accompanied by Abby. She took a sharp intake of breath when she saw the state of her, but sat down beside Ziva without comment.

Ducky went back to work as the two women sat and discussed their pregnancies. As he put some antiseptic cream on her wounds, he noticed that she grabbed Abby's hand. Abby squeezed back, but didn't comment.

It took Ducky nearly an hour to finish treating her back.

"Is there anywhere else you want me to look at?"

"No, but will you check the girls over for me tomorrow. They have never seen a doctor in their lives and I would like to be reassured that they are okay."

"Certainly, I will call back. If that is alright with you Abby."

"Of course Duckman!"

Ziva put her blouse back on and followed the others back into the living room where she settled down for coffee. Surveying her friends, she realised just how much she had missed both them and adult company.

Sitting with her friends, Ziva allowed herself to relax in the comfort of knowing that nothing could happen to her while in the room four fully trained Special Agents plus Abby. She had not let her guard down, even for a moment ever since she had been captured.

All of a sudden, a piercing, terrified cry broke the relaxed mood of the living-room. Recognising it as Abigail's, Ziva sprang up and went down to the bedroom they would be sharing.

Abigail's face was red and tear stained and she was drenched in sweat. She had clearly been having a nightmare. Ziva picked her up and took her back into the living-room, so as not to disturb Talia.

Carrying her back down to the others she sat back down. Abigail continued to cry no matter what Ziva said.

"_Abigail, what happened?"_

"_It was horrible Ima"_

"_I know darling, but it was just a dream"_

"_No, it was real. They really did it"_

"_Who really did what?"_

"_They did"_

Abigail, then promptly dissolved into a fresh wave of tears, while Ziva cuddled her and sang to her.

It seemed to take an age to calm Abigail down, but eventually her howls quietened down to snuffles and she fell back to sleep. Ziva wished the others a good night, carried her back to bed and settled down to sleep herself.

Ziva had a very rough night with Abigail, who was waking up, utterly inconsolable after nightmares that were totally real to her. Finally, at 5am Ziva gave up and went to make breakfast. She got out all the ingredients that she would need for pancakes while Abigail played with her doll on the floor beside her. Ten minutes later they were joined by Abby and McGee and Ziva went to wake Talia.

She settled the girls at the table and gave them two pancakes each with maple syrup.

"_These are really nice Ima, what are they?"_

Girls, what have I told you about speaking in English?

"They nice. What are they?

"Pancakes!"

"You guys have never had pancakes before?" asked Abby.

"No we were given a porridge type thing which was laced with sleeping pills once a day, to stop us escaping during the night. It is all they have ever gotten to eat."

"Anyway, we're going shopping today!"

"Abby, I have no money." Ziva said quietly.

"We know that, but the team put some money together to get you guys some clothes and toilitries and whatever else you need"

"I can't accept your money"

"Of course you can"

"But..."

"You don't know how much each person put in, therefore you cannot return it to them so..."

"Alright, alright"

"Excellent."

Ziva helped the girls tie their shoe laces, plaited their hair and sent them to wash their faces which were smeared with maple syrup. Within ten minutes the David's and Abby were ready to go, armed with several hundred dollars.

**Review please, and don't forget about my poll! I'm also not entirely sure where I should go next with this story so any suggestions are more than welcome. I may leave it and come back to it later. I have had a Blind Justice and NCIS crossover in my head for a while so I might switch to it for a while. What do you think? Review!!!!!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Sorry it took so long.**_

_**Anything written in Italics is being said in Hebrew**_

_**Jenny is still alive!**_

_**All the shops I'm talking about are real and in my local shopping centre.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Talia, Abigail and Pippy. I am not making any profit from this story.**_

**Chapter 4**

Abby, Ziva, Talia and Abigail arrived at the huge shopping centre. Abby and Ziva had been driven mad by Talia and Abigail's questions about everything they saw. Having never left the tiny apartment until three days ago, this was understandable though.

"Where to first?" Ziva asked Abby. "I have not been here for ten years so I am sure it has changed."

"What about Primark? Their clothes are pretty cheap"

"Primark it is then."

They arrived at the huge shop and went straight up the escalator to the children's department.

"_Why don't you two look around, and I will go and find you some basics. If there is anything you particularly like, bring it back to me. OK? Stay together though."_

The two girls happily skipped off holding each other's hands tightly. Ziva and Abby wondered through the shop occasionally stopping to look at various items of clothes.

Very soon Ziva had chosen several pairs of jeans each, a handful of t-shirts and blouses, some jumpers, pyjamas, underwear and trainers.

She shifted the hugely overloaded basket in her hand to a more comfortable position, and noticed Abby doing the same. Laughing at how crazy they had been they went to find the girls.

Typically, they found them looking at a rack of very pretty, and utterly impractical dresses.

"_Did you two find anything?"_

"_I got this dress"_

"_Well I don't like it but I think that this one is really nice"_

Ziva looked at the dresses that her daughters had picked out. Talia's was navy blue and knee length with large silver buttons going down the front. It was nothing fancy and Ziva could easily see Talia wearing it. She added it to the basket and turned to Abigail's dress. Hers was a deep pink and knee length with a zip up the front. It suited her taste and Ziva could also see it being worn so she added it to the basket.

The group went over to the till where Abby pulled out the money from the team to pay. Seeing the large amount of money the girl eyed them suspiciously, but didn't comment.

"I need caf-pow" declared Abby, clearly on a shopping buzz. She took off out of the shop and practically sprinted towards the lift. Ziva wearily picked up their many bags, took Abigail and Talia by the hands and followed her. Although she would not say anything, she was in a large amount of pain from her wounds on her back, but she could do with a coffee.

By the time they reached Cafe Costa Abby had already ordered and paid for a caf-pow, coffee, two chocolate milkshakes and four pieces of apple pie. They sat down sipping at their drinks and enjoying the sweet stickiness of the pie. Ziva relaxed. To an outsider they could have been a family, which they were in a way, but tragedy ran deep between them.

"So, have you talked to Tony yet?" asked Abby. Of all her friends on the team, it was only Abby who had known just how deeply Ziva had cared about him.

"No. I just have not had time."

"I take it that means he doesn't know that he's a dad then?"

"Abby! How did you know?"

"With those green eyes? Who else's would they be?"

"It was a few days before Michael came to DC. We were both lonely. It was never meant to happen, but it did and I suppose something good came out of it."

"Ziva, you have to tell him. He's changed. None of us know if he's even had a date since you left. He certainly has stopped talking about them if he has."

Ziva sat back in her chair and contemplated this news. It had been ten years. Anthony DiNozzo did not go ten tears without a single girl.

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted when a waitress pointedly asked them if they would like anything else. Taking the hint, the group gathered up their bags and left the café. Ziva decided that she would get a few books for Talia and Abigail so that they could practice their English.

In the bookshop the two girls got very excited. They had seen very few books in their lives and what they had seen had been written in Hebrew. Ziva had taught them to read, but again, having only Hebrew materials meant that they could not read English. Nor had they ever even seen the Latin alphabet.

Heading over to the children's section, Ziva chose the _Under the Hawthorne Tree_ trilogy by Marita Conlon-McKenna, which included _Under the Hawthorne Tree, Wildflower Girl _and _Field's of Home_. They made their way to the till and paid.

The girls were lagging behind, so Abby and Ziva decided to head into Boots to pick up essentials and then head back to Abby's. They bought toothbrushes, shampoo, shower gel, bubble bath and then headed back .

McGee was at work and Abby was due in after lunch. She had been given the morning off to help the Davis's settle in. She ate a hasty lunch with them before rushing off.

Barley ten minutes after she had left, there was a knock on the door. Looking through the peep hole, Ziva was relieved to see that it was just Ducky. She let him in and took him to the kitchen were the girls were polishing off the last of the soda farls.

They nodded shyly at Ducky, before trying to sneak out of the door. Laughing, Ziva caught them around the waist and pulled them back into the room.

"I told them why you were coming" explained Ziva. She lifted up her top to show her daughters the large bandage on her back. "_Ducky did this to make me all better. He only wants to make sure that you are alright"._

Talia, who was the bolder of the two, went over to Ducky, clutching her doll, Meira. Ducky lifted her onto Abby's kitchen table. He prodded her for a while and took her blood pressure making her laugh the entire time. Ziva held her hand as he took blood and Ducky then proceeded to reward her with a lollipop.

Then it was Abigail's turn. She also sat still and allowed Ducky to do what he had to do, but she cried when he stuck the needle in her arm. Ducky soon had her laughing again though and when she was done, the two of them skipped off happily to enjoy their lollipops while Ducky gave Ziva the verdict.

Ziva sighed with relief as they were given a clean bill of health despite the cuts and bruises. Ducky would get Abby to run a tox-screen but he couldn't foresee any problems that a kiss and a lollipop wouldn't make better.

About an hour later Ducky excused himself saying that he had to get back to work while Ziva, Abigail, Talia, Meira and Raya settled down to read _Under the Hawthorne Tree_ together.

**Thanks for reading this. Under the Hawthorne Tree is a real series of books which I highly recommend. It is set during the Irish Potato Famine in the 1800's and focuses on three children who flee the workhouse to travel hundreds of miles to find their Aunt's.**

**I have a new poll on my profile about what is going to happen in the upcoming chapters so vote and decide what you want!**

**Review..................... Please!!! They make me happy and encourage me to write faster. **


	5. Chapter 5

_**Sorry it took so long. I have just started studying for my A-Levels and I barley have time to breath but I'm off for a week so I will hopefully get a chance to update my stories. **_

_**Anything written in Italics is being said in Hebrew**_

_**Jenny is still alive!**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Talia, Abigail and Pippy. I am not making any profit from this story.**_

**Chapter 5**

A few days later Abby took Abigail and Talia into work with her, while Ziva went house hunting. The girls were settling well into their new lives of freedom, and Ziva was slowly beginning to relax. She was ready to get them settled into school, once they had somewhere to live sorted out and their English was rapidly improving.

Walking into the estate agents, she knew exactly what she wanted. A decently sized two bedroom apartment, within ten miles of NCIS, near a good school and a running track. Luckily for her, the estate agent, whose name was Mr Montgomery had exactly what she was looking for.

She drove to the apartment in McGee's car which he had been lending her until she could get one of her own. Although he was happy to help in any way that he could, he hated Abby's hearse!

The apartment building was made up of soft grey stone and had pretty white window frames. Inside, the front door opened into a spacious sunlit hall. There was a large kitchen which had modern appliances and an island, a huge living room and a good sized family bathroom. The master bedroom was huge and had built in wardrobes and an ensuite. Next to it was a small bedroom which Ziva would use as a study slash spare bedroom and finally was the third bedroom which would be used for Talia and Abigail. It was spacious with windows on two sides and would make a perfect bedroom for two little girls.

Ziva was delighted with the apartment and signed the lease saying that she would move in that Saturday. She sang to herself as she drove to the supermarket and bought the ingredients to make a lasagne.

She found what she needed quickly and drove back to the apartment. She knew that the others would not be home yet, but the dinner would be ready as soon as they got in.

Talia and Abigail chatted to each other excitedly in Hebrew in the back of Abby's car. She smiled as she listened to them, not bothering to try and enforce Ziva's new rule of speaking English so that they would be ready for school soon.

This would most likely be the last time they would come into work with her. They had an interview with a school for children who had parents in the Navy or NCIS the next day, and providing all went well, they would hopefully start school on Monday.

When she arrived home the girls ran up the stairs and waited impatiently for her to unlock the door.

Over dinner Ziva told everyone about the new apartment. Luckily for her, the team had kept a lot of her old furniture in the hope that she would come back. All she needed were two beds and dressers for Talia and Abigail.

The next day was Saturday, and Gibbs had given everyone the day off to help the David's move into their new apartment.

She got up early, fully intending to be there first, but when she arrived everyone was already hard at work.

Tony and Gibbs had her old sofa in their arms, McGee was wiring up a computer, Ducky was sorting things out in the kitchen, Abby was dusting and hovering as McGee had forbidden her from lifting anything and Jenny was nowhere to be seen although Ziva could hear her whistling.

She handed Talia and Abigail some blank paper and coloured pencils and they sat down to draw in the sun while the adults were hard at work. With the five of them at it, they had all the furniture in place by noon. They decided to take a break from their labour to eat the lunch Ziva had prepared for them. Jenny had mysteriously reappeared, but before Ziva got a chance to ask her about it, she was gone again.

When they were all fed and watered they started unloading the boxes of things that Zia had left behind, and the few things that she had collected since she had come back. They were not finished until nearly eight o'clock, by which time everybody was exhausted.

However, the apartment had been transformed from a bare space into a home. The walls were adorned with old photographs and the few baby pictures of Talia and Abigail that Ziva had managed to smuggle out with her.

All of a sudden Jenny reappeared and took Abigail and Talia by the hand and motioned for Ziva to follow her. She lead the way into the second bedroom which she had clearly taken charge of. The walls were a warm, creamy yellow and there were two light wooden beds, dressers, bedside tables and toy-boxes. The bed spreads were matching, but one was blue and one in lilac, and Meria and Raya were sitting on the corresponding beds.

Ziva was speechless. The room was absolutely perfect and the way the furniture had been arranged to make the room seem more spacious. The girls just ran in and jumped onto the beds.

Suddenly Ziva was exhausted, and all she wanted was for everyone to go home and read the girls a bedtime story. As if sensing this, the team got up one by one and left and Ziva was able to shut the door and feel like she was finally at home.

**Coming up next: First day at school, a baby scan** **and Ziva goes back to work.**

**Please Review. I accept them from anonymous people so you have no excuse. Loads of people are reading this but nobody is reviewing! It's not rocket science – Read and Review. Ok, that's the end of my rant but seriously REVIEW!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Anything written in Italics is being said in Hebrew**_

_**Jenny is still alive!**_

_**I know nothing about the school system of America so for the purpose of this story, they will be going to primary school. (Explanation at bottom of how it works for anybody who is interested.)**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Talia, Abigail and Pippy. I am not making any profit from this story.**_

* * *

Ziva smiled at the luxury of waking up in her own apartment. It was 5:30 in the morning and today was a really big day. She was taking the twins for their first day of school and she was going back to NCIS.

Humming to herself she picked out a pair straight black trousers and a long, button-down black top. Ziva point-blank refused to wear a short sleeved top in an effort to prevent anyone from seeing her badly scarred arms. She dressed after taking a shower and decided to straighten her long hair. It now reached past her waist.

She walked into the kitchen and made up a batch of pancake batter. Then Ziva went into the back bedroom to wake Talia and Abigail. Both girls had left their uniforms sitting out the night before and put them on while Ziva went to make the pancakes.

When the girls emerged she was so proud. They looked adorable in their impeccable uniforms which consisted of a white shirt, grey jumper with a navy stripe around the neck, and grey pleated skirt. Each different class had a different coloured stripe in their navy tie – for Talia and Abigail it was yellow. They also wore white knee socks and black shoes.

Chatting happily, the family sat down to enjoy their breakfast together. When they were done Talia cleared the table, Ziva washed the dishes, Abigail dried them and they put them together. Ziva plaited the girls hair tightly, grabbed her bag and they were ready to go.

As they drove to the school the twins grew more and more quiet. They got out of the car and clutched Ziva's hands as tightly as they could. If Ziva was totally honest with herself, she was just as nervous and it was taking all herself control to not strap the girls back in and run a mile.

Waiting for them at the front door was Mrs Mitchell who would be Talia and Abigail's teacher. During their interview they had done an aptitude test so although they were the age for primary four, they were going to be put into the primary five class. Mrs Mitchell was not alone. Beside her was a tiny girl with long red hair and piercing green eyes.

"Welcome to P5 Abigail and Talia. This is Gráinne. She's going to be your special friend and help you so that you know where everything is" said Mrs Mitchell.

She looked like she could cope with anything and Ziva felt more confident about leaving her to look after her children. She knelt down to their height and hugged them hard and wishing them good luck in Hebrew she left.

* * *

Pulling up in the familiar car park brought back a rush of long forgotten memories for Ziva, especially the time when Jenny had left in charge of the agency, but had left to solve a crime. She was thankful that she still had her security clearance, and laughed softly when the security guard at the front entrance refused to allow her entry when she was armed with more than three weapons. However, he soon receded when she gave him a stern look.

The lift was still the same as it had always been. She was amazed that it had stood up to all of Gibbs' abuse over the years but she could see various tell tale marks that said it was still the same one.

Ziva took a deep breath as the doors pinged open. Her body language eluded confidence even though she was shaking like a leaf inside. Striding up the bullpen she sat down at her unusually tidy desk and finally felt at home. If things really hadn't changed, Tony would be hiding, McGee would be with Abby and Gibbs would be getting yet more coffee. Sighing happily she switched the on the computer on her desk and started to familiarise herself with the case.

* * *

McGee faltered slightly at seeing Ziva back at work so soon, but walked over to her desk to welcome her back.

Tony however, pretty much ignored her and Ziva could feel the icy barrier that was between the two old friends and had replaced the once playful banter and teasing.

When Gibbs came in he dropped a stack of folders on her desk and told her to start catching up. It was nice that he treated it the same as any other day.

* * *

Tony got up and Ziva saw him heading in the direction of the gents. Excusing herself she said she wanted Abby to explain to her how they had solved a case. Gibbs grunted and Ziva took it as permission to go. She took off after Tony as fast as she could without making it look suspicious.

* * *

Sliding back the lock on the door, Ziva was relieved to find the room empty except for Tony.

"You know Ziva, this is a mens room. Clearly ten years of no contact have not curbed you of your seeming dislike for the ladies."

"I have only come here to talk to you"

"Then talk"

"It is hard. I do not know where to begin"

"Try the beginning Ziva" said Tony sounding impatient.

"Well, I have told you my story I did not tell you everything. Talia and Abigail are not what everyone assumes, a product of my rape. They are yours. Conceived literally hours before I left for Israel"

Tony just stared. ...

... and stared...

... and stared some more until Ziva could take the silence no longer.

"Please say something Tony. They do not know and I won't tell them yet unless you want me to"

Still nothing. Until Ziva headslapped him which jolted him back to reality.

"So I'm a dad?"

"Yes"

"A real dad?"

"As opposed to what Tony?" Tony began to laugh delightedly and swooped in to hug Ziva, literally sweeping her off her feet.

"Would you like to come and meet them after school today? I will get out of work early today only, but you can come over tonight around seven. I will cook and you can meet them properly."

"That sound amazing Ziva" He replied, kissing her on the cheek.

Gibbs observed them as they walked back to the bullpen together. Tony looked like he was floating on cloud 9 and Ziva looked pretty pleased about something as well. It was annoying him that he could not figure out what.

**I know that this is really short, but I'm not really sure where to go next so if you have any ideas let me know.**

_**School System in Northern Ireland**_

_**Nursery School – Age 4**_

_**Primary School – Age 5 – Goes from P1 to P7**_

_**Secondary School – Age 12 – 1**__**st**__** to 6**__**th**__** year (upper and lower 6**__**th**__**, not 7**__**th**__** year) or Year 8-14 depending what way want to put it.**_

_**Start University at 19 (unless you take a gap year)**_

**I dare you to review.**


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